Friday, August 1, 2014

I am so behind. I don't think I'll try to catch up on everything. This past week has been so much fun, full of camping. I'll break it into two sections. Wallace & Sant.

WALLACE: La Wis Wis Campground, Mt. Rainer.
We had originally planned on going to the Wenatchee National Forest, Monday through Thursday to camp with the Wallace family. Unfortunately there has been, and still is, a massive fire. The parks and even some highways are closed, people being evacuated. So sad, but we were determined to go camping since Nathan and Ben, his dad had taken off the week from work.

We found La Wis Wis campground, near Mt. Rainer. We looked up reviews and photos and it looked beautiful!

Here's a picture I grabbed from google. Just gorgeous!

We arrived Monday afternoon, set up camp and made tin foil dinners with corn on the cob over the fire. The campground is gorgeous with tons of old growth and the river just across the road. We walked around and found the bathroom. Totally had a flushing toilet AND running water. SCORE!

That night we tried making campfire cones and talked around the fire. The next morning it was rainy until about 10am. So we hung out in our tents. We went into Mt. Rainer National Forest to do the Grove of the Patriarchs trail and Silver Falls. Unfortunately, they didn't allow dogs on the trail. Nathan and I sat at a picnic table while the rest of the Wallace Fam went to the Grove of the Patriarchs. We were planning on them watching Ruby when they got back so we could do it too. But by the time they got back, it was raining. So we went to try and find where Angela was wanting to do some Trail Riding. We drove into Packwood and nobody knew what we were talking about. So we just got some firewood and headed back. Nathan and I made a peach raspberry cobbler for Lenise's birthday. After dinner, it started raining so we got into bed early. It rained hard all night, and in the morning there was an awesome thunderstorm and the rain continued. The decision was made to pack up and head home. It wasn't supposed to clear up until the weekend, and we were leaving Thursday anyways.

We packed up in the rain. It was so crazy! We were running around like chickens with their heads chopped off. We crammed everything into the van and our car and off we went. We stopped in Yakima at Miners and had a well deserved veggie burger and curly fries. (Yes, Miners does have veggie burgers.)

After we had arrived home, set up the tents to let them air out, unzipped the sleeping bags and laid them in the grass...it started to rain in Richland. Really? Yes. So we scrambled again and got everything broken back down in the garage or the house. It was a wet, but fun time!

The Tube

Getting ready to cook dinner

So green & tall

Off to go fishing!

This was our Wednesday

SANT: Cougar, Washington
My sister Darcey has a friend, who has a cabin. This is where we went. It was amazing that all my family was able to make it (Except Aaron. And Zach had just gotten home from school the day before). We set up our tents in the field around the cabin. The weather was quite different. Sunshine. :) My parents rented a truck and we rode with them. It was cozy, but it was fun.

At a rest stop near Hood River.

Falls Creek Falls Hike. ( Zach's finger blockage)

So pretty!

There was a creek that flowed in the reservoir just down the hill from the cabin. We played in the water, skipped rocks and explored. Saturday we took turns going to the Ape Caves. I had never been, but it was really cool. The Ape Cave is a lava tube from Mt. St. Helens. It was a short walk, but it was pitch black and only 42 degrees.

Arlo and I

We all had a good time over the weekend. Heidi, Nathan and I even found some bear scat when we were walking our dogs. Although, I kind of wish it was Sasquatch poop since Mt. St. Helens area is famous for sightings. :) We did however find 3 snakes AND two salamanders..maybe they were newts. **ATTENTION ANNE: SKIP THE NEXT PHOTO**

Zach, always finding critters

Jamison with the salamander

On our way back, we did a big loop. So we went around St. Helens, and then up to Rainer. It took us awhile, but it was a really pretty drive. We found another waterfall "hike". There was a sign that said Iron Falls 500 Ft. They really did mean 500 feet. It was down a path and BAM you felt like you were in the middle of the forest. There was a gorgeous waterfall, fallen trees, and crystal clear water.

Mt. St. Helens. This is straight off Zach's cell phone. No edits. Isn't this awesome?

The view from Iron Falls. (I'm standing on the log in the middle of the stream)

We had our lunch by Iron Creek Falls

Mt. Rainer

Looking at these pictures again, made me think of the following hymn. I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father has created such a beautiful place for us to live.